A New World
by Dajun - Shinespark
Summary: A documentary following the events just prior to the Second Battle of Hoover Dam and its aftermath. Inspired by the BBC documentary The World at War.
1. Part 1: Home Sweet Home

**A New World**

**Part 1: Home Sweet Home**

Shady Sands, 2277; the President prepares to speak to his nation. Less than a week ago, the First Battle of Hoover Dam ended in a victory for the New California Republic. It was a narrow one, but the people did not need to know that. So for now, it was celebration. But far away from the Capital, way over in the East, the frontiers have been carved and the delicate balance of power has been set. Though the citizens of the NCR might not know it, the future of the entire west side of the Post War North American Continent is about to change. All of it will happen within their lifetime.

"_When I first heard about what happened at Hoover Dam, I genuinely thought the war was over. Certainly from all the propaganda we were constantly fed, it seemed as if Caesar's offensive has been crippled and that we would now be on the offensive."_

-Mary Carlos

Former librarian of Vault City

In truth, the battle resulted in an interlude rather than an armistice: the entire East side of the Colorado River still belonged to Caesar, and he had no plans to leave. While the NCR consolidated on their victory, the Legion prepared to execute the one responsible for their defeat. Joshua Graham, formerly the Malpais Legate and Caesar's right hand man, had become the focus of the Legion's shame. His legacy as the Burnt Man was soon to follow.

"_The reason for Graham's execution was simple: he failed in his duties and Caesar had to make an example of him. Whether or not he felt compelled to do this out of principle or because he genuinely wanted Graham dead is debatable, but the end result was the entire Legion saw with their own eyes the price of failure."_

-Dennis Crocker

Former NCR Ambassador to New Vegas

Though it quickly became clear to the NCR officers stationed in New Vegas that the Legion was holding their ground, the question of what should be done about it was difficult to answer: should they push the offensive as many of their citizens believed they would, or should they hold their ground? Out in the front lines, the opinion was split: while many members of Lee Oliver's officers held the belief that a decisive push into Legion occupied lands directly east of the river could permanently disable their position in the Mojave, the general himself had little confidence. After all, their recent victory at Hoover Dam was arguably a fluke, and even then most considered it the work of Chief Hanlon and his rangers.

"_During those days, we were all aware that with every passing week, our window of opportunity was getting smaller. If we were going to make any decision, whether it's attack or defend, we would have to make it soon."_

-Ranger Johnson

Over in the Capital, opinions were similarly divided: if an offensive was successful, they could effectively end the war right there and then, or at least deal a crippling blow to the Legion. But it would have been a gamble, one that not everyone was willing to make: if the operation fails and the NCR is forced into retreat, everyone knew the Legion wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. Desperate for a decision to reassure both the soldiers on the front line and the citizens at home, the President ordered the troops to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements. It was a blatant attempt to make more time for a more unanimous decision.

"_We were told that we could expect additional troops and supplies within the next few weeks or so from the Long 15 and possibly the Divide. I think many of us felt a bit frustrated at the lack of decisive action from the brass, but looking back on it there wasn't much else they could do: even if they decided to go ahead with the offensive, we simply didn't have the numbers necessary to both mount an attack and defend the Mojave at the same time."_

-Ranger Johnson

But the reinforcements never came: less than a week later, the settlement known as the Divide disappeared off the radar. The tremors were felt far and wide; in New Vegas itself, windows were shattered and some already weakened Pre-War ruins collapsed. Nobody knew at the time what exactly happened to the Divide; in fact most didn't even know where the shock wave came from. And it would take many more weeks before anyone could even reach the epicentre of what most assumed to be the site of a major earthquake. But one thing was clear: the supply line along Death Valley Road has been severed and now, only one route joining the NCR and the Mojave remained.

"_What happened at the Divide effectively ended any thoughts on taking offensive action against the Legion. We didn't know how many men were lost in the Divide nor did we know how long it would take to redirect the reinforcements through the Long 15 into the Mojave Outpost. The priority was shifted completely."_

-Quartermaster Hammond

Officer of the Long 15

Instead of joining an attack, what was left of the NCR reinforcements was ordered to double time along the Long 15 to form a defence: it was believed that knowledge of such a cataclysmic event would not elude Caesar for long. The table has been turned: now the NCR was preparing for another possible Legion offensive. Fortunately for the Republic's soldiers on the front lines, there was no major Legion movement; Caesar simply wasn't ready. For now, the major powers of the Mojave had little choice but to maintain the stalemate, possibly indefinitely. All of this meant that the people of the New Vegas region can return to a normal, albeit strained life.

For the average man, woman or child living in the Mojave, there was certainly no shortage of excitement. Until NCR's arrival and the awakening of Mr House, there was little law in this part of the wasteland. People were content with living in small communities such as Goodsprings and Primm, all the while scraping together a living out of whatever was available to them.

"_Most of us were farmers, prospectors or traders back in those days. No settlements ever tried to expand or anything like that: bigger towns attracted more raiders and so on. But then the NCR came and everything just lit up. Soon we had Legionaries running all over the place and even escaped convicts. We haven't got a quiet day since, I think."_

-Cliff Briscoe

Mayor of Novac

Among all of this, the Vegas strip remained vibrant, active and most of all: open for business. Ever since the first contact with the NCR, Vegas has been referred to as the City of Lights: among all of the major Pre-War cities, Vegas was arguably one of the best preserved. And after two hundred years, it still served as a major centre of vice, attracting visitors from all over the wasteland. Humanity, it seemed, never changes. At the centre of the city's activity was Mr House; few people have ever made contact with the man and fewer still even knew of his true nature. For the NCR, he was the face of New Vegas, the closest thing to a leader the city had. But for some, he was nothing but a symbol of oppression.

"_House had eyes and ears everywhere and he certainly knew all of the factions that existed within the Vegas area. But he never seemed to pay us any mind; in fact I think other than the Three Families, he was no more than a rumour to most people. So to call him a 'leader' to the entire region was quite frankly absurd."_

-Arcade Gannon

Former researcher of the Followers of the Apocalypse

Current lead medical advisor of the West Coast Alliance

From a military point of view, the extent of House's capabilities seemed dubious at first. It was no secret that he had access to Pre-War technology, but the NCR have fought and defeated technologically superior enemies in the past; and Mr House's Securitrons certainly didn't look like they could offer the same sort of challenge as a Brotherhood Paladin. Despite this, diplomatic contact was made between the Vegas Strip and the NCR; while a military invasion might have been quicker and more thorough, the Republic is known for annexing settlements without too much bloodshed. Besides, hostile takeovers made for bad press. And so the New Vegas Treaty was drafted and signed by both parties: in exchange for recognising New Vegas as an independent state, the NCR was granted access to McCarran International Airport and Hoover Dam among other terms. But for the rest of the wasteland, people only saw the sudden flow of NCR troops. Some accepted it better than others.

"_[NCR] had their fingers in everything, baby, and it didn't feel like they were giving anything back. We were protected, true, but it felt more like occupation if you know what I mean. Places like Freeside were allowed to stay independent, yeah, but it always felt like it would be a matter of time before things got physical."_

-The King

Leader of 'The Kings' and Mayor of Freeside

Whether they liked it or not, the people of the Mojave had little choice in the matter: the NCR was here to stay, so they might as well as make the most of it. The influx of troops and NCR citizens certainly gave the local economy a well needed boost, and not just from the casinos: trade caravans of the area benefited well, and so were the smaller settlements, offering services of all kinds to weary travellers. New Vegas has established itself firmly within the hearts and minds of the NCR citizens as a city with endless possibilities and a place where one's fortunes could be changed overnight. Some were happier about this change than others.

"_And then one of my boys came back one night and told me about this place called Vegas. And before I could say 'what the fuck', every rich prick from the Boneyard to Shady fucking Sands were talking about the Strip! And guess where they decided to go and spend their money; not at my casinos! I mean why? They're all casinos, right; you walk in filthy rich and you come out dirt poor, what's the fucking difference?"_

-Mr. Bishop

Head of the Bishop Crime Family of New Reno

But despite this seemingly solid balance of power, things were not meant to last. Mr House knew perfectly well that as long as his city relied on the protection of the NCR, Vegas could never become fully autonomous. And what would happen to his beloved city when the war with the Legion came to an end? If Caesar emerged victorious, the NCR would almost certainly pull out of the Mojave, in which case Vegas would become defenceless. But even if the war was won by the NCR, there was every reason to believe that they would simply turn their attention back towards Vegas and force House and his followers to sign a new treaty, one that would surely result in annexation as it has been for so many of the Republic's territories in the past.

"_House needed something; a trump card to play at the negotiating table, something that would dissuade the NCR from using military action against New Vegas without ever needing to fire a single shot. He needed an army."_

-Swank

Head of The Chairmen and owner of The Tops casino

The question remained: where would he acquire such an army? At the time of the First Battle of Hoover Dam, Vegas had no standing military force: the limited number of Securitrons at House's disposal was formidable, but they were designed for policing and to intimidate petty criminals. In actual warfare, they stood no chance against the far more experienced NCR troops. There was no use looking for help elsewhere: most of the more powerful tribes near New Vegas, such as the Boomers and the Great Khans, were either unwilling to negotiate with anybody or were downright uncontrollable. Faced with such conditions, House turned towards a different possibility, one that he's been trying to exploit for a very long time.

"_When I saw the order, I have to admit I was curious. The contents of the packages were certainly… interesting, but I've seen weirder things being delivered, certainly. Rather, it was the manner by which the orders were placed. We had a cowboy robot giving us the instructions and he was very specific about it: he wanted six couriers, each carrying something slightly different but all of them were insubstantial things. I think it was clear to everyone that he was trying to hide something."_

-Johnson Nash

Unofficial Mayor of Primm and owner of the Mojave Express

On October 11th, 2281, one of the six couriers hired by the Mojave Express left Primm and made his way north towards the Vegas Strip. Few at the time knew of the significance of his package, but it was clear that there were other parties interested in its contents.

"_At first, the deliveries went smoothly: we had one courier, who turned down the job for no given reason, but other than that, the deliveries were made and the payments were received. One of the guys, a lad called Daniel Wyand, even came back to Primm the following day, looking for more work. It wasn't until a day or two later did we realise that one of the packages didn't make it."_

-Johnson Nash

In truth, the Courier in question was intercepted near Goodsprings by a small group of Great Khans and their employer. Other than an incident earlier in the day involving some raiders, the group have kept a relatively low profile: they knew exactly who they were going to hit. Approximately one week later, the Courier, having survived two bullets to the forehead at close range, woke up in the local clinic of Goodsprings. The significance of this event at the time seemed trivial.

"_We didn't know it at the time but things were happening faster than people can report it: first we heard that the siege of Primm was broken, then we were informed that the Prison went down, and then Goodsprings repelled an attack. I personally had no idea what was happening or why it was happening so soon; every message we got referred to 'some Courier'."_

-Lt Colonel Knight

Former receptionist of the Mojave Outpost

The sixth Courier, who recovered from his injuries only earlier that day, had begun what would soon be a streak of activities across the Mojave. Nobody knew who this man was or where he came from, but wherever he went, he left his mark. Goodsprings, Primm, Mojave Outpost and Novac, all of these settlements recorded his presence on the first day alone. His deeds seemed noble but his motivations were never made clear. However one thing seemed certain, he was a friend to the NCR.

"_We were quite desperate for new recruits, you understand, so any help from civilians was greatly appreciated. We didn't expect much, but this guy was just incredible, there was no other way of putting it. Whatever tasks we gave him, he did them. I remember wishing there were more men like him in my unit."_

-General Hsu

Former commanding officer of Camp McCarran

The Courier's activities were varied and not all were aimed at helping the NCR; in fact most of the time he aimed to work for the local settlements, acts which often put himself and those travelling with him at great risk. But he seemed, according to the locals, almost thrilled by the thought of such dangers and was actively seeking them out. This of course, put him at odds with some of the less favourable factions of the Mojave Wasteland. Having been labelled as a menace by the Powder Gangers and a distinct enemy of the Legion within the first few days of his appearance, news of the Courier's exploits began to spread across the Mojave like wild fire. His involvement at the retaking of Nelson even reached the ears of the President, who wasted no time to turn the mysterious man's adventures into a propaganda machine. Here was a proud civilian of the Mojave (although his exact origins were unknown) serving the Republic's interests. Popularity of the Courier grew exponentially, and soon, more and more of his service to the NCR began to pour in. And as he came closer and closer towards the Vegas Strip itself, he began to attract other parties.

"_When he walked into the Lucky 38, I think a lot of the bystanders had to rub their eyes and wonder if they were dreaming: someone was actually going to talk to Mr House. That hasn't happened in a very long time."_

-Emily Ortal

Researcher and member of the Followers of the Apocalypse

Even Caesar, who was well aware of the Courier's acts against him, seemed to take interest in this seemingly unstoppable man. For a while it seemed as if this celebrity of the wasteland would be overwhelmed by the attention. But instead, his actions turned towards something much more serious, actions that would change the Mojave forever…


	2. Part 2: Provacation

**Part 2: Provocation**

Fortification Hill, 2281: on a clear Mojave morning, the sound of flames and scavengers reveal a scene of devastation. Caesar, the conqueror of eighty seven tribes and the self-proclaimed Son of Mars, was dead. He died not of illness or even subtle assassination; he probably wasn't even the first one to die that morning. Nobody at the time knew who committed the act or how they were able to carry it out, but one thing was clear: this was the turning point of the war.

"_You have to understand that on average, we get about… 5 to 6 reports per month at least of someone, probably a bounty hunter or something, who claimed to be making an attempt on Caesar's life. And 9 out of 10 times, we never hear from them again, and when we do, it's usually because one of our boys found their body. So as you can imagine, when some red faced recruit came in and told us that the Fort was wiped out, we all thought he was high on Jet or something."_

-Commander Astor

Former commanding officer of Camp Searchlight

Early reports were sketchy, but for the next few hours, scouts from multiple ranger camps in the area all reported the same thing: there was smoke coming from the Fort, and they were not from campfires. It wasn't until later in the afternoon did High Command receive the news, and it was later still when General Lee Oliver was informed personally. According to personal logs at the time:

_Nobody dared to report to the brass because they feared getting their asses kicked for wasting time with obvious bullshit._

Though progress on the investigation was slow, rumours have already begun to spread:

"_We all knew almost straight away that it wasn't us, I mean such a high profile mission would require authorisation all the way from the President himself. Can you imagine the amount of paper work that would have involved? The war would've ended before they green lit something like that. And in any case we would've heard about it; maybe not the average trooper but certainly High Command."_

-Bardon

Former Quartermaster at Hoover Dam

Even if High Command would believe that such a daring attempt on Caesar's life have been staged, they were not willing to send people to verify it. It was likely, some reasoned, to be a trap made deliberately to lure the NCR troops away from Hoover Dam. But such a trick was not exactly difficult to see through and it didn't seem to fit the Legion's style. Nevertheless, the rumours were getting out of hand: both the troops and the citizens demanded an answer.Under pressure from higher authority back in California, Lee Oliver gave the order to send troops disguised as caravan traders into the Fort. For High Command it was the least costly plan should something go wrong, but for the soldiers who were chosen for such a mission, it was potential suicide.

"_Most of us didn't believe in it, so unsurprisingly there weren't many volunteers. Eventually the higher ups had to pick individuals, and if I'm honest, I was praying they wouldn't choose me."_

-Lt Lawson

Formerly Private Lawson of Camp Golf

He was one of five troopers chosen for the task

Nearly three days after the initial reports were received, the small convoy, armed with only concealable weapons, set off on their mission. Their first stop was Cottonwood Cove, a major Legion outpost. From there, they were told; any traders would be checked for weapons before being taken by raft up the Colorado River and into the Fort. All the while they would be under heavy Legion scrutiny.

"_I remember seeing the crosses from almost half a mile away through my binoculars, most of them had skeletons still pinned up. That was a common sight near Legion outposts and it really did a number on most of the younger recruits. It was basically a reminder that we were about to walk straight into Satan's backyard."_

-Lt Lawson

"_As we got closer, though, things began to feel off. I remember checking my surroundings, particularly near rocky areas and usually you can bet a whole bag of caps that there would be one or two scouts hidden somewhere. They weren't usually that good at hiding, especially for the less experienced ones, so if you had a good eye you could usually spot them. But on that day, I couldn't see a single one." _

-Kara Thompson

Formerly Private Thompson of Camp Golf

She was one of five troopers chosen for the task

"_We eventually got closer to the entrance, and took cover behind the old pre-war sign. There was no Legionary in sight; no activity at all. I expected to be met by a scout or someone about ten minutes ago, but there wasn't a soul in sight. But then Thompson took one look around our cover, which wasn't a smart thing to do, she could've been shot, and said: 'My God'. I dragged her behind cover and very carefully checked it out. To be honest, she took the words right out of my mouth."_

-Lt Lawson

Cottonwood Cove, formally under the command of the legendary Aurelius of Phoenix, was completely wiped out. Almost fifty Legionaries lay dead, Aurelius among them, after what appeared to be intense fighting.

"_We were not expecting that at all. And the first thing that popped into my head was: 'this is the only way for anyone to go from the west side of the river to the Fort.' And there was no other way, not without going through Hoover Dam, which was no man's land. This outpost was not only destroyed, it was abandoned completely; three days after we heard about the Fort. There was only one explanation."_

-Lt Lawson

Whoever it was that committed this act was very likely the same group who supposedly attacked the Fort. After being told to wait for another two days, High Command sent additional troops, rangers among them, to commence a full investigation into the reported incident at Fortification Hill. Suddenly, the prospect of the most daring assassination in recent history no longer seemed so impossible.

"_For some of us, even at that late stage, we couldn't shake the feeling that this might be a trap. I certainly felt it. But when we finally arrived at the gates of the Fort and saw the extent of the damage there, I felt… I can't really describe it. A mix of relief and terror, if you can imagine that…"_

-Ranger Gomez

Like Cottonwood Cove, not a single Legionary escaped the Fort. There were no wounded soldiers, only the dead; some of which appeared to have been executed. Inside various tents and what few improvised buildings there were, the NCR troops found former slaves, most still dressed in the torn garments forced upon them by their now deceased masters. Some of these slaves were captured from the local area, but many more were transported from Arizona. Some of them were so weak they could barely speak. Among the slaves were a few captured NCR troops, some of whom were scheduled for execution on the very day of the massacre: they were lucky, they were saved.

"_One of the women, who was clearly trying to organise the slaves, identified herself as Ranger Stella. I didn't know her personally, but she certainly had that look of true grit on her face. She was the only one we could find who wasn't… broken, if that makes any sense. She was captured from Station Charlie and has been forced to fight as a gladiator, and yet after all that she was still tough enough to try and help as many people as she could. Hell she even saluted us."_

-Ranger Gomez

As an eye witness to the entire event, Stella gave a full account on exactly what took place on that fateful day, or at least everything she saw. Just after sun rise at approximately 7am, the Courier, along with his companions, arrived at the foot of the Fort. There they were disarmed and given access to the rest of the camp. According to Stella, the Courier himself was given permission to enter Caesar's command tent, an honour usually reserved to only the highest ranking members of the Legion. There he stayed for an indeterminate amount of time. Then, as Stella put it in her testimony, all hell broke loose.

"_We found several sites all around the tent where substantial explosions occurred, possibly C4. This was followed by the ignition of several incendiary devices near some of the other tents. There was heavy fighting and a large portion of the Legionaries station at the rest of the Fort was called in; we knew this judging by the sheer number of bodies we found. The assailants used no other tactics beyond the initial series of explosions, which was likely done to distract Caesar's guards. But as far as the rest of the fire fight, it seemed like a mess."_

-Ranger Gomez

"_None of us could figure out how these guys managed to do this: I mean they were disarmed and as far as we could tell, they simply fought with whatever weapons they could conceal plus weapons taken from the dead Legionaries. Even a squad of highly experienced soldiers wearing full Power Armour could pull that off. I suppose if we stayed longer and looked harder, we might have avoided a lot of what was to come, but we knew that there were other Legion camps out there, particularly the one under the Legate's control. We had to pull out of there before they could send more troops."_

-Kara Thompson

The exact details of the battle remained conflicted and confusing; some claimed that the Courier was escorted to a nearby pre-war weather station after his talk with Caesar. Others even claimed that the entire squad came in guns blazing, the meetings with Caesar himself never taking place. Ranger Stella herself was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. This made her account, according to the investigators, 'unreliable'. Regardless of the details, the Courier's involvement in the event was undeniable. A vital question now dominated the investigation: why did the Courier do this?

"_In hindsight, none of us should've been surprised that he would do something like this. But at the time none of us could believe it; that kid was capable of a lot of things and did do a lot of things for the NCR, make no mistake, but he never took a move as game changing as this before. He was getting himself involved with some pretty hard core politics by doing that, and I for one was concerned: we never asked him to do this."_

-Dennis Crocker

Former NCR ambassador to New Vegas

The fact that the Courier took such daring steps against the Legion was proof that he was upping his agenda. And it was his agenda that worried High Command. In addition, numerous accounts of the incident agreed that the Courier was given access to both the Fort and permission to speak to Caesar personally. On top of this, the Courier never reported in the incident at the Fort, nor did he report the destruction of Cottonwood Cove, which by this stage seemed almost certain to have been a product of his doing. Suddenly, whether out of respect or fear, the NCR High Command had no choice but to take this man and his squad seriously.

"_There was some of the General's staff who saw the Courier as a hindrance rather than an asset. Their argument was that as powerful as the Courier may be, he was still a loose cannon: he was not an official member of the NCR army, in fact we couldn't even confirm if he was a citizen of the NCR in the first place. He never took an oath to serve the Republic and it was no secret that he has been in contact with numerous factions of the Mojave."_

-Dennis Crocker

These other factions included the Boomers, Followers of the Apocalypse, the Great Khans, the Kings of Freeside, the Super mutants of Jacob's Town and many others. There was even suspicion that he may have come in contact with the Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel. The most worrying contact, however, was easily Mr House. Considering how the Courier was originally hired to deliver a package to House himself, their meeting seemed inevitable.

"_We had no idea what those two talked about, but they certainly had us worried. That was the thing with weapons: you always feel glad to have it yourself, but at the same time, you tried everything you could to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. And believe me, the Courier was one of the most powerful weapons we had."_

-Dennis Crocker

Contacts with the Courier were reduced to a minimum: even at this stage, he did not take credit for Caesar's death, at least not publically. Though the Capital were no doubt eager to further use him and his achievements as propaganda, General Lee Oliver and those serving below him were getting increasingly weary of this young man and his friend's antics: they were starting to make High Command look ineffective. The opinions of the local population were also beginning to shift:

"_When they saw the Courier's image, they did not see the NCR. Instead, when they saw the NCR, they saw the Courier. He was becoming a legend among men, which in all fairness he deserved. But this was not what we wanted him to become."_

-Dennis Crocker

The relationship between the two parties was beginning to sour, although neither side knew the true extent. As means of controlling the Courier, High Command decided that Colonel Cassandra Moore should become his new 'commanding officer', even though he was still technically a civilian contractor. As a former ranger and well respected NCR war hero, Moore did not have the patience and understanding the Courier had been used to receiving from the NCR.

"_I personally thought that the appointment of Colonel Moore for this task was absolutely idiotic: those two did not mix well. Moore demanded her troops to be absolutely loyal to the Republic and obey any and all orders without question. That was pretty testing, even for other officers at the time, so you can imagine how well the Courier took it. The answer was not very."_

-General Hsu

Former commanding officer of Camp McCarran

To make matters worse, the tasks Moore gave to the Courier were ethnically questionable at best. Having served in the NCR military since she was only 16, the Colonel was a battle hardened patriot and was well known for being ruthless to her enemies. Though the missions she gave to the Courier were top secret, their brutal nature was not unexpected.

"_On more than one occasion, the Courier was tasked with 'taking care of' certain factions of the Mojave. I knew that she… suggested, at least, that the Courier use lethal force to subjugate the Kings. I also knew that he was tasked with investigating the Great Khans, which judging by the historical hostilities between the two factions probably meant their extermination as well. Those were just the cases that I was aware of at the time."_

-Dennis Crocker

But in a fashion typical to the Courier, he achieved each mission with his own spin on the procedures: his close ties with the King meant that he negotiated peace between Freeside and the NCR without too many obstacles. Furthermore, he gained the trust of the Great Khans and turned them away from joining the Legion, finally asking them to leave the Mojave peacefully. Such acts earned him even more prestige among the average inhabitants of the New Vegas area. It seemed as if High Command's plan had backfired.

"_Moore, in particular, was frustrated with the situation. I even heard her say that she wanted to take the Courier down a couple of notches, which really said more about her own personality than anything else."_

-Bardon

Former Quartermaster at Hoover Dam

Mind games: it became clear to most if not all who worked closely with both Moore and the Courier that a battle of will was being constantly fought between the two. But it was not to last. At some point after the Courier shut down what became known as 'The Omerta Plot', Moore commanded him to do the unthinkable: the assassination of Robert House.

"_In many ways, you could argue that it was unavoidable: the man, if he could be called as such, was determined to keep New Vegas out of NCR hands. That, of course, was not in Kimble's best interests. We had hoped, almost right after the signing of the New Vegas Treaty, in fact, that if the military could decisively crush the Legion and drive them out of the Mojave once and for all, then our then our position of political bargaining would be unmatched. There won't be any opposition back home and House would have to give into our demands. Of course that depended on two factors: we had to first win the war, and we had to talk to House."_

-Linda Holden

Former Secretary of President Kimbal

But neither of those factors was looking promising: the Legion, even without Caesar, was still being held together, albeit shakily, by the iron fist of Legate Lanius. As for House, there had been no meetings since the signing of the original treaty, officially or otherwise. With seemingly no alternative, Moore and other like-minded individuals at High Command turned towards aggressive negotiations.

"_You have to understand how tough that was for [The Courier]. He was never that fond of House, we all knew that, but he nonetheless felt that House was entitled to something. After all, he was the one who saved New Vegas from the worst of the nuclear devastation in the first place. And in some ways, it was House's package that brought all of us together."_

-Arcade Gannon

Former researcher of the Followers of the Apocalypse

Current lead medical advisor of the West Coast Alliance

"_I've never seen him so down, hell I've seen him on the edge of death more than once and he always held on. But this was sending him over the edge. I supposed up until that point, he assumed that he was working to make the whole annexation process as peacefully and as fairly as possible. But that clearly wasn't happening anymore."_

-Raul Tejada

The Ghost Vaquero

Disillusioned and tired of politics, Colonel Moore's demands for tying up loose ends in the Mojave did little to reassure the Courier of his choice for employers, something that he would remember for weeks to come…


	3. Part 3: Innocence Lost

**Part 3: Innocence Lost**

It's 25th of June; the Vegas Strip momentarily stops in its tracks as every single Securitron begin to broadcast an ancient message, just as they have on this very day for countless years:

"_This is Mr New Vegas, wishing our benefactor and great leader, Mr Robert Edwin House, a very happy birthday."_

-Annual broadcast of Radio New Vegas

Few people remember the legacy of Robert House, and fewer still cared. The broadcast is a relic of an age gone by, a subroutine hidden too far in the systems of the Lucky 38. It is a hollow reminder that there was once a man who thought himself immortal. Approximately two weeks after the mission for House's assassination was passed, NCR High Command at Hoover Dam received a single message from the Courier's private radio frequency:

"_It is done."_

Moments earlier, Securitrons throughout the Vegas area stopped to broadcast their pre-programmed message. But this time, it wasn't a birthday greeting, it was an obituary.

"_This was something nobody could verify. At least with Caesar, we could send troops, but House's defence systems were still very much intact. It's no secret that we didn't even know where House is located; he might not have been inside the Lucky 38 at all for all we knew. We had no choice but to take the Courier's word for this."_

-Dennis Crocker

Former NCR Ambassador to New Vegas

The exact detail of how House died is still unknown; nobody accompanied the Courier in this task, not even his eye-bot. Stranger still is how the Courier subsequently managed to take control of the Securitrons and maintain their day-to-day operations. The news shocked some more than others.

"_It might not have meant much to the average tourist or even citizens, but for those of us higher up the food chain it was very interesting. I mean I've never met the guy personally, I'm not sure anyone did, but things were definitely going to change and the Three Families all felt it."_

-Swank

Head of The Chairmen and owner of The Tops casino

But as far as Kimbal was concerned, the news was a cause for celebration, albeit a quiet one: all political barriers for the annexation of the Strip were now removed. Rumours of foul play began to circumvent almost immediately, but it mattered little: Vegas's only leader has died and nobody could step up and inherit his legacy. If the NCR does not annex Vegas, then the City of Lights would surely collapse into disarray. With that in mind, the NCR could now focus entirely on beating back the Legion, all the while moving more and more troops into Vegas itself; the local protesters no longer had anyone to back them up. Only one loose end remained: the Courier.

"_There was a lot of debate on what we should do with him. I remember being present in several meetings with General Lee Oliver and the Courier was always an item on the agenda. Some of us wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible, Moore certainly felt that way. But a lot more people wanted to keep him, at least until after we push Lanius out and then securing the Strip for good."_

-Dennis Crocker

Former NCR Ambassador to New Vegas

The propaganda machine, however, wasted no time in milking the Courier's fame and image for all it was worth. Only now, the focus has changed: whereas before the Courier was seen as an outsider who believed in and fought for the Republic's cause, now he was shown as a member of the NCR all along. But one question remained: where is the Courier? Ever since House's assassination, the Courier has gone completely silent. Though his companions were spotted every now and again, there was no sign of their leader.

"_On more than one occasion, troops would come up to me and ask where the Courier was. I told them to piss off and mind their own business as usual, but the truth was I couldn't tell them. I simply didn't know; none of us did."_

-Rose of Sharon Cassidy

Head of the Happy Trails Caravan Company

In reality, the Courier has left the Mojave no more than a few days after House's death. Before he left, he recorded a final message to friends, urging them not to follow him. The recording itself have since been destroyed, but according to those closest to him, this move was not entirely unexpected.

"_He didn't really speak to us anymore, which was worrying cus one of the things he was known for was his way with words. Some people think that if the Courier stops talking, that means all bets are off, he's being serious. But actually that's not true: if he's being serious he'll be talking in a different tone, perhaps, but never going silent."_

-Veronica Santangelo

Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel Mojave Chapter

"_I always knew that our position in the Lucky 38 won't last forever, so we all had our own plans on where to go if the worst came. That message he left us pretty much spelled it out: he was tired of the politics and the constant backstabbing, he was withdrawing. His involvement with the Mojave was over."_

-Raul Tejada

The Ghost Vaquero

Where the Courier went next was, at the time, completely unknown. Even to this day, the exact path he took is subject to debate, but we do know where he started. Less than a day after the message was discovered, a group of caravaners representing the Happy Trails Caravan Company left for New Canaan. As part of their standard log transmissions sent to their main branch, it was recorded that they hired a man with a Pip-boy after the previous individual who claimed to possess such a device proved to be unreliable. Considering how New Vegas was flanked by the NCR and the Legion, the West and East respectively, it is no surprise that the Courier might have chosen to head north. But unknown to them, their destination have been destroyed a long time ago.

"_New Canaan was founded in Ogden, Utah, which was hit particularly hard during the Great War. Most of the people who inhabited this region were tribal and a fairly substantial number of them lived as raiders, such as the White Legs, the 80s and so on. We had to defend our homes against these people almost on a daily basis."_

-Daniel

Mormon Missionary and mentor of the Sorrows

But it was one of those tribes, the White Legs, which ultimately proved to be the downfall of New Canaan. Desperate to join Legion, the tribe was determined to do whatever was necessary to prove their worth in Caesar's eyes. Aided by Legion frumentarri, the once prosperous city of New Canaan finally fell to their relentless attacks. No more than thirty Mormons survived the ordeal.

"_One can only wonder what would have happened if the Courier really made it through Zion Valley without any incident: things wouldn't be the same today, that's for sure."_

-Daniel

Upon entry to the Valley, the Courier's party was almost immediately attacked by members of the White Legs, with only the Courier himself surviving the ordeal. For the next few days at least, the man was recorded to have made contact with two other local tribes: the Dead Horses and the Sorrows. Because of their fiercely guarded nature, neither tribe was willing to reveal much information regarding their experiences with the Courier. However, the sudden disappearance of the White Legs from this area gives an indication of the Courier's exploits. Most of the White Leg's camps still existed; the other tribes consider left them as they were, believing that only Zion itself can remove the taint from the land.

The destruction of the White Legs and the subsequent revival of the Mormon community would slowly transform Zion Valley into a common destination for caravaners, one that the Happy Trails Caravan Company would later claim a monopoly upon. And despite the lack of cooperation from the locals, it can be deduced that the Courier himself did indeed return to visit this land, though his exact motives remains unknown.

"_We do not speak of the Courier but we do remember him. He has taught much to the people here, both good and ill. Despite his love for this land, he did not remain for long; I personally showed him the way to return to the Mojave. And while I cannot say I agree with all of his decisions, I did pray for his safety."_

-Daniel

Such prayers, it seemed, was indeed necessary. The Courier could not return the same way he came due to the unique mountainous paths, which offered extreme difficulty for even the most experienced climbers; one could only descend it. Instead, the maps the local tribes provided led the Courier East, and perhaps unknown to them, straight into Legion territory. Reports of the Courier's path during this period remains conflicted, but perhaps a combination of good fortune and miscommunication between the scattered legionaries meant that neither Lanius nor the NCR High Command received full confirmation of his survival. After all, the Courier has since reached mythical status, not unlike the Burned Man or the Flag Bearer. And like any myths, members of the Legion were forbidden to spread it.

At some point in the following month, the Courier left a distinct trail at a place known as the Deathclaw Promontory. A breeding ground for deathclaws, this place has for decades been marked as a forsaken land from where none can return alive. It is also one of the only places east of the Colorado River that had a distinct bank leading straight to the water's edge. It was here that abandoned equipment and the remains of several deathclaws told the story of a desperate fight for survival.

"_I have seen many worthy hunters enter that place and perish. Many believed it to be cursed but only those with true skill and honour saw it for what it is: a path of glory. I have seen the Courier best many of the Thorn's beasts and he had personally delivered the eggs of many such dangerous creatures, deathclaws included. So when our newest hopeful hunter returned with the news, I knew in my heart that my hero was the one responsible. And of course, he was still alive."_

-Red Lucy

Owner of the Thorn

Tired, disorientated and quite possibly wounded, the Courier's battle with the deathclaws, his subsequent swim across the river and the punishing climb to reach the Mojave area would have killed most men. But it became increasingly clear that he had indeed survived the entire ordeal. And yet, not a single scout, NCR or otherwise, could spot him. Despite all expectations, he had once again disappeared.

"_If the Courier did indeed swim directly across the river from the Promontory, then technically he should have reached Ranger Station Echo. Now they never reported seeing anyone coming from that direction at the time. But realistically, if you were to swim across that river, the water could indeed carry you further downstream, in which case he could have emerged in Cottonwood Cove. But again, there was no sighting."_

-Joseph Polatli

Former Major and commanding officer of Camp Forlorn Hope

But in actual truth, it was more likely that the Courier travelled further up the river in a bid to find an easier way up the cliff face. The trail ends at a spot near Camp Forlorn Hope and the recently liberated Nelson; ironically, that was the Courier's handiwork. A very faint radio signal that matched the signature of a Pip-boy was briefly picked up by Tech Sgt Reyes at Forlorn Hope, but it was so faint it was initially discarded as interference.

Once again, the trail has gone cold.

"_If we had taken that final signal more seriously, we would've tried to triangulate the point of origin. Then we would've sent troops to investigate. To this day, I am haunted by the thought of what could have been, if only we bothered to check."_

-Joseph Polatli

But there would be no more signals for at least another month. While another signal was eventually picked up towards the south end of the Mojave near Nipton, it was once again regarded as interference. Even if the Courier intended to return to the Mojave, it seemed as if fate was keeping him out.

"_Then one day, it was a Sunday, I think, we had a trader who just arrived from central Vegas coming into the Outpost for a drink. He said he met and traded with someone on the way, some guy with a Pip-boy. Last we heard, he was heading towards Primm. We all thought: 'no way, that can't be him'. If he was that far into the Mojave, our people would have spotted him by then."_

-Lacey

Former bartender at the Mojave Outpost

Nobody at the time knew how the Courier had managed to travel from the ruins of Nipton all the way to the West of Primm before disappearing again without anyone detecting him. But just as the Mojave was starting to get used to the idea that he might have been gone for good, the people was shaken yet again.

"_At approximately 10am, I was doing my usual patrol inside Vault 8 when all of a sudden; every single alarm within the facility blared out at once. My colleagues outside assumed it was a malfunction, perhaps a faulty terminal, but at that instant, my gut feeling told me something wasn't right. About a minute later every single door began to seal itself one after the other; I was trapped in the Overseer's office with a technician at the time and we had a hell of a job trying to stop the whole place from going into lock down."_

-Mac Davis

Vault City security guard

"_We knew only so much about these Pre-War systems that we've only scratched the surface. But when I ran a diagnostic, I quickly realised that the vault was sealing itself as a pre-programmed response to an imminent nuclear attack."_

-Elise Porter

Vault City technician 1st class

Simultaneously and quite possibly across the entire continent, military bunkers and pre-war shelters began to seal themselves. Vaults, weapon storage depots and missile silos were all responding to a single signal located near the Pre-War military base of Hopeville and Ashton. This meant one of two things: either someone outside of the continent has launched missiles towards mainland US, which was detected by sensors in Hopeville and Ashton, or someone was attempting to launch missiles stored there. In either case, it would have resulted in nuclear war.

"_Understandably, everyone was confused. You have to remember that it has been several generations since the Great War: only some ghouls, like the ones in Necropolis, could even remember that far back. And even that was questionable. Nobody knew how to prepare themselves."_

-Julie Farkas

Leader of the Mojave branch of the Followers of the Apocalypse

Having virtually no anti air defences or large scale evacuation plans, an average NCR citizen was no more likely to survive an actual nuclear attack than any other wastelander. Across the entire West Coast, people desperately tried to gain access into the previously abandoned vaults in a scene that was reminiscent of the final hours of the Pre-War world. President Kimball himself had to be escorted to the nearest bunker. Approximately two hours after the initial alerts came the news everyone feared: confirmation. An intercontinental ballistic missile armed with a one megaton warhead was launched from the Ashton silo. Mere seconds later, the detonation followed: what was left of Hopeville since the Great War was wiped from the face of the Earth for good.

"_It was as if everybody in the country stopped in their tracks. For a lot of us it was way too far, not even the light would have been visible. But in our hearts we felt the explosion, maybe it was an instinct left to us by our ancestors who felt the same impact two centuries ago. We all felt it and we were terrified."_

-Mac Davis

Silence; no one dared to imagine what would come next. Documentation from other military installations indicates that Ashton had well over eighty such warheads during Pre-War times, and even taking into account the destruction of the war plus the erosion of time since then, an estimate of at least thirty to fifty remaining was still possible. For the people of the entire wasteland, stretching coast to coast, they could only wait and see who would be unlucky enough to be the next target.

"_The tension of not knowing is a feeling nobody would want to experience, especially when it could mean life or death. We only had confirmation of one explosion but the fact that nobody would be able to get anywhere near the Divide to investigate the matter meant that we simply had to rely on blind faith."_

-Elise Porter

But fate, it seemed, was not blind. Several hours after the explosion, radios across the West Coast received yet another signal. But this one wasn't a warning. For most civilian radios the signal was too weak, but from military installations, NCR, Followers of the Apocalypse and even Brotherhood of Steel technicians deciphered a battle of words between two individuals.

"…_what I do now is an act of conviction _(interference) _you showed me a road, a way to carry my message. You've already answered for what you've done. Now the flag you follow will answer for it."_

-Ulysses

The Flag Bearer

"…_you may not have plans for the future, but the rest of us do…"_

-The Courier

Thus began the legend of the Divide, where two Couriers fought beneath an ancient flag at the edge of the world. No one knows for sure what happened next: some believe that the Courier bested his opponent; others believe that they fought together against the horrors of the Divide. All we know is that the nationwide alert lifted soon after and no more missiles fell from the sky…


	4. Part 4: The Return

**Part 4: The Return**

Vault 3, 2282, this former shelter to the rich and privileged served as headquarters for one of the most brutal and dangerous gangs in the Mojave Wasteland: the Fiends. Psychotic, immoral and barely organised, these criminals had become one of the NCR's worst adversaries in the region, second only to the Legion. A little more than a few hours ago, the mere thought of assaulting such a fortress would have been considered suicide. But on the morning of January 5th, it became nothing more than a slaughter house.

_"Even before I heard the broadcast, I had a gut feeling it was him. The way the operation was carried out and the sheer efficiency: it was almost a carbon copy of what we saw in Fortification Hill. We knew only one man who was capable of doing that."_

-Ranger Lineholm

Former Commanding officer of Ranger Station Alpha

The idea, however, was dismissed almost immediately by High Command: The Courier could not be responsible, they reasoned, because he was already dead. After all, the NCR even gave him a state funeral, awarding him the Golden Branch posthumously for his service to the Republic. Thousands mourned for his passing at the Divide and the propaganda machine, ever so opportunistic, had a field day.

_"And so passes the Courier, the great martyr. Though history may not remember his name, his spirit shall endure in the heart of every NCR citizen. Peace to the Courier! Peace to the Republic!"_

-Radio Republic

Broadcasting at the Courier's Funeral

But the survival of the Courier was, to those with authority, more than just inconvenient.

_"You have to remember that Kimball and his government have been thinking of ways to get rid of this guy for ages. As far as they were concerned, he has served his purpose and his death was the best possible outcome they could've hoped for. Now he was no longer just a man: he was a symbol, a political weapon that Kimball can use for the rest of his career."_

-Joana Summers

Former member of Congress

Like so many times before, the possible presence of this seemingly indestructible man has become a mixed blessing. The investigation into the matter was soon declared top secret and the few who knew the truth was sworn into secrecy. High command now had two objectives: confirmation on who was responsible for the attack and if it was indeed the Courier, they must find his current location.

_"I think you'd have to be pretty stupid not to catch on what they meant by that second order. They told us to bring him in alive, of course, but it was obvious: if he walked into Hoover Dam, he ain't walking back out. None of the search party had ever met him, they made sure of that."_

-Ranger Sven

Head of the search party

But to everyone's surprise, it was the Courier who acted first. On the morning of the following Monday, less than a week since the Fiend's destruction, radio communications across all frequencies ceased throughout the Mojave and stretching as far West as Maxson. Fearful of enemy sabotage, both the NCR and the Legion went into immediate alert, expecting imminent attack. What they got instead was a message nobody expected; a message that both side dreaded.

_"We interrupt whatever it is you're listening to right now for a special announcement. Don't bother resetting your radio, because you'll just end up missing it. Don't bother tracking this signal either or you'll find about a dozen different stations broadcasting this message simultaneously. In short, just sit down and listen, dickhead, you'll make everybody's life easier that way. Now, in case you still don't recognise my voice, which given recent events seem unlikely, you'll notice that rumours regarding my death have been somewhat exaggerated and a little bit insulting: I survived worse than that, let's be honest. To those of you who are on my 'to sort out' list, feel free to grab some toilet paper and start shitting yourselves. To everyone else, stay alert, because things are going to get very interesting."_

-The Courier

Transcript archive

Red faced, humiliated and with nothing to say. The censors could do nothing to stop the rumours, and the questions came pouring in. Why were the people lied to? On the streets of the Vegas area, the citizens were ecstatic: they cheered and celebrated in the name of their hero, but everyone was dazed and confused. For High Command it was all happening far too quickly and the lack of any clear instructions from the capital only made them more anxious. How long will it be before this man makes an actual appearance? And what should they do if he did?

_"To be honest, I thought we had more pressing matters on our hands. And besides, the damage was already done; it was done from the moment he made that broadcast. Our initial instructions, which came from the General himself, no less, were to supress any overzealous individuals who may or may not use this opportunity to oppose the NCR. And that was it; they gave no more detail than that. We were pretty much left to our own devices."_

-Simon Miles

Former NCR military police officer

The potential consequences of this order became as lost as those who carried it out. Individual officers had their own definitions to what 'overzealous' meant, and it was the same story with 'appropriate response'. Few dared to start trouble on the Strip itself, not while Securitrons still patrolled the area. But in more desolate areas such as Freeside, where anti-NCR sentiments were still strong even after the peace brokered between the Kings and the Republic, people dared to be more vocal.

_"There were small children, the eldest were about ten, who would run around and stick posters all over the place. At first we didn't realise what they were doing and obviously we couldn't actually arrest them, so we just took them down as soon as they left. But let me tell ya, they were everywhere! And we had no idea what they even meant, they just looked like a giant ace of spades with a '21' painted on top of it. A lot of us thought it was just a joke, a prank of some kind."_

-Simon Miles

Regardless of what these acts meant, it was clear what they symbolised: the NCR was losing their grip on the hearts and minds of the local population. To make matters worse, High Command had a deadline to meet although few knew how to do so; whatever the Courier's intentions might be, they had to come up with an answer before President Kimball's visit to Hoover Dam. It was an event planned ever since the Courier's supposed death and it could not be cancelled.

_"Oliver and Moore were tearing their hair out by this stage, you know, they were saying: Why now? This must be the worst possible time for the president to be making public appearances in disputed territory. Even if you don't consider the Legion planning anything, how could they ensure that none of the locals would try their luck? But that was the thing, they weren't politicians."_

-Dennis Crocker

The thinking behind Kimball's visit was simple: up until this stage neither the Courier nor the NCR had openly declared each other enemies, no matter how clear it might have seemed to some. The Courier's lack of active stances against the republic was enough to convince Kimball's administration that the man was playing a game of politics rather than war, something these men and women have been playing from the beginning.

_"Originally the President's visit was to serve a few very simple purposes: raise the morale of the troops and show the people that he cared about the soldiers of the Republic. But with everything that has happened since the Courier's broadcast, things became a lot more complicated. The plan was to actually invite the Courier to the event so that the President could present him the Golden Branch personally. Now if the Courier accepted the offer and came peacefully, the propaganda machine could once again say: 'ah look, the man is still a patriot'. And even if the Courier turns his back on us later, he would've been discredited. But if the Courier tried to do anything that might suggest malice, they could instantly slam the label of terrorism on him. It was a win-win situation, as far as we were concerned at the time."_

-Joana Summers

All this assumed, however, that the Courier would ever accept the offer in the first place. Communications with the man have become as difficult as actually finding him, and so it was decided that High Command would force the matter. First were the broadcasts:

_"We acknowledge that the Courier had defied all expectations in his survival, and thankful that he is willing to continue to pledge his support. As President of the New California Republic, I greatly look forward to meeting our brother in arms personally."_

-President Aaron Kimball at the Klamath Conference

And then there were posters; many, many posters. One way or another, the Courier will hear this message; but more importantly, so will everyone else in the Mojave. Now all they needed to do was to wait until the day of the visit; the day where they find out just what the Courier was planning to do.

_"It was just madness. There's a great stereotype at the time and probably still today that Legionaries were savages who barely knew how to hold a gun. And a lot of the people back home believed that not only were they unable to operate machinery, they would actively avoid it. But that was so far from the truth. The people in control of the Legion were pragmatic; they might tell their troops that to maintain the purity of the Legion, one must shun all advanced technology, but those guys weren't above being hypocrites. They used radio operatives, explosive experts and probably even engineers. And High Command knew all of this! Words cannot describe how stupid it was to literally let everyone know where the President was going to be and at what time."_

-Joseph Polati

Former Major and Commanding officer of Camp Forlorn Hope

As any communications officer would testify, the NCR's communications was being constantly attacked even during more peaceful times; attempts to break the Republic's code, from the Legion or otherwise, have been occurring regularly ever since the great expansion. Security measures however were of the highest standards, or so was it told. But as the day drew closer, interference from Legionaries became more and more like a certainty. Possibility of open invasion towards the dam itself was discredited from the beginning; it was far too obvious. However, the risk of attacks elsewhere while the majority of the NCR military was occupied was dangerously high. Plans and documents at the time suggested possibilities as far fetching as a rapid strike at the Mojave Outpost to cut off and isolate Kimball in the Mojave itself. But by far the greatest possibility was an attempt at a simple assassination, or more likely, multiple attempts.

_"We had to mobilise everyone, and I do mean everyone on site. There would be no chances risked: if you had any record of insubordination, even if it was just accidentally spilling coffee on your commanding officer, then you would be transferred. Every system was checked far too many times for me to count. We even brought in former assassins to assess the situation: if they thought they could still kill the President then we haven't done our jobs correctly."_

-Ranger Grant

Former head of security at Hoover Dam

_"About a week before the President's arrival, I was taken to one side by Colonel Moore, who rarely ever spoke directly to someone this low down the chain of command. She said to me: 'Son, the Courier will arrive in about five days' time.' As you might expect I was rather taken aback, I said: 'Really, Colonel? How do you know that?' She didn't give me a straight answer. But then she threw another curve ball at me, she said the Courier's gonna be inspecting security. That really got me confused because up until that moment I was still under the impression that he was just as likely to make an attempt on the president's life as the Legion. But no, she repeated her orders and told me to cooperate, but only within guidelines. It wasn't until when I read my full briefing later that night did I realise just how elaborate my act would have to be."_

-Corporal Lens

Former assistant of Ranger Grant

Using a frequency that has been quiet ever since his initial departure, the Courier made his move, one that most hoped for but did not expect: not only would he be willing to meet the President, he would even formally submit his services. Naturally, not everyone believed in this proposal. Lee Oliver himself considered the offer a trap, one that the propaganda agency had already stumbled into. Without consulting any of the onsite staff, the news was brought straight to Kimball himself. The response was made almost immediately and worst of all, it was public.

_"As far as I was concerned the whole situation was turning into a farce. If the Courier was really willing to protect the President then quite frankly there was no way the Legion could succeed, we didn't doubt his ability for a second. But the point is we didn't know what he wanted and it didn't matter how many times I personally warned the politicians, they never listened: it just became another piece of complaint, another piece of paper work. Yes, there was good political reason to go through with it and yes, they had a relatively well thought out plan. But having done this job for all of my life, I can safely say that plans like that ultimately never hold up."_

-Ranger Grant

Instead of actively cooperating with the Courier, onsite staff was advised to provide only limited information: the services done by the Courier would be for show only, something for the media to expand on in their own time. Meanwhile, false information was fed at every possible opportunity: the Courier will not be allowed to actively contribute to the security process but neither would he be given the opportunity to sabotage it. And through it all, High Command had the authority to arrest him at the slightest provocation.

Despite this, hiccups to this detailed plan began to occur even before the Courier's arrival. Although the exact exchange between High Command and the Courier has long since been destroyed, it was known for a fact that conditions were made on the Courier's arrival. For a start, he would not come alone: close members of his group would be given access and carry out the same supposed contributions to security as the Courier himself. Secondly, the scheduled meeting between Kimball and the Courier would be pushed to latest time possible.

_"Looking back on it now I should've seen what was happening: the politicians were effectively playing a game of checkers with this guy. Every single policy we were planning to install during his arrival was meant to limit his options, and yet he was finding loopholes in every one of them. We could have arrested him if we needed to for example, we had the authority, but what happens to the rest of the Mojave if we did? There was no way to keep something like that quiet for long; Freeside would've rioted almost immediately along with Westside. Most of the major factions would pledge their support and then we would have been trapped between the Legion and the locals. Now this guy knew this perfectly well, that's why he deliberately made an announcement to those people the day before his arrival. He was checking us at every move."_

-Dennis Crocker

_"The demand to bring in members of his group as 'consultants' was clearly aimed to counter our misinformation: you can try to fool one or two people with the same lies if you need to, as long as you keep it consistent and maintain constant surveillance of their activities at all times. But if there are four or five of them from very different fields of expertise then it would only be a matter of time before one of them finds a little something you overlooked. And that was the best part: we couldn't refuse him without exposing the fact that we didn't trust him, which would've driven the propaganda agency mad. The whole thing was a political minefield."_

-Joana Summers

With no other choices present, High Command had to accept what already lie on the board and hope for the best. During the two brief days the Courier and his squad spent in Hoover Dam, they identified no less than eight different potential security breaches; most, if not all of these were fabricated. It wasn't until on the actual day of the arrival, with less than two hours until the President's arrival, did the signs of potential danger truly reveal themselves.

_"On the day of Kimball's visit, very few people from the engineering department was allowed to go top side; you had to be specifically selected. Oh the papers made it out to be some huge public event but actually, there were barely any civilians there at all. At around about eight in the morning, I was expecting to meet a friend of mine above the visitor's centre; we were all confined within the dam itself by this point and I knew he wasn't selected, otherwise he would've been bragging about it for days. So for him to be missing at this time was slightly worrying. I saw the Courier go past and he asked me if everything was ok. Now I didn't know much about the supposed plans of misinformation, I just thought I'm looking for my friend, maybe this guy saw him… they found his body later that evening."_

-Allison Valentine

Former engineer at Hoover Dam

_"The whole area was deemed a no-fly zone, which might seem a bit pointless considering almost no one else had access to an aircraft, but we really couldn't afford any chances by this stage. Bear Force One landed almost precisely at 10 am, I escorted the President out of the vertibird and took him to the stage. Everything was going relatively smoothly by then. The only thing that bothered me at the time was that I lost visual contact of the Courier. Now this wasn't really that big a deal: there were a lot of soldiers there at the time, someone would have seen him if he tried anything. But then about a third of the way through the President's speech, I saw out of the corner of my eye some kind of movement up one of the sniper towers. Now my first instinct would have been to get the President out of there, but we were told specifically not to interrupt the speech without first verifying the danger. Whoever came up with that policy was an idiot."_

-Ranger Grant

_"I don't know how long or complex the Legion's plan was, but by the time we realised something was wrong, pretty much everything was happening simultaneously. I personally was standing in the crowd at the time and not very few folks saw the first sniper falling off the tower. Now I thought it was the sun playing tricks on me or something, I mean not many people would automatically think someone's been pushed off. But when that second sniper fell as well, I would say pretty much everyone around me noticed it."_

-Corporal Lens

Ranger Samson of Baja would later be found dead near the foot of Sniper Post B. The culprit was a Veteran Legion assassin identified as Titus Antony, disguised as a Ranger and having snuck his way through three separate checkpoints. How he managed to achieve this would later become part of a long and damaging investigation into the heart of High Command. At approximately two minutes into the President's arrival, Titus Antony subdued and replaced Ranger Samson. Less than a minute later, he was in turn subdued and replaced by a third individual. Craig Boone, former First NCR Recon sniper battalion, would not be recognised as a hero for quite some time.

_"Whenever you see the President, he always had two or three guys flanking him. Now obviously you're supposed to think those are his body guards but the key words there are 'supposed to'. Of course they are all fully trained but the real work is done by people like me who blends in among the crowds. At the time I've been doing that job for over twenty years but I've never seen an assassin move that quietly without arousing not just my suspicion but my colleagues as well. The guy was wearing a regular engineer's outfit and by the time we moved to intercept, he was within striking distance of the President."_

-Agent Francis

Former bodyguard to President Kimball

_"Looking back on it now it was an absolute disgrace, both on my part and those of my staff. None of us managed to intercept the first assassin in time; we had to use a member of the Courier's group. But worst of all was that none of us could even intercept the second assassin right in front of the stage either; the Courier himself went in first! I could not believe it at the time: I didn't even realise the Courier was in among the crowd, he wasn't supposed to make an appearance until much later that day. Now the guy in the jump suit with the knife clearly didn't realise it either, 'cus that thing went flying the moment he got grabbed. We've all heard stories of how Legionaries were trained to fight with their bare hands from the moment they were old enough to walk, hell there's an old joke that Legion boys grew knuckles before they grew their dicks, but that guy didn't stand a chance. We had to get the Courier off of him before his arm came off."_

-Ranger Grant

A full investigation into the matter would now be inevitable. But at least, the President was safe. It was no longer a secret that both the Courier and High Command kept vital details from each other, the only difference was that the Courier figured out his opponents long ago. Even Bear Force One itself was later found to have been rigged with an explosive charge, one that was disabled by Raul Tejada, now known as the Ghost Vaquero. All of it was captured by the media: the Courier managed to meet the President after all, but not the way it was expected.

_"I don't think it's any doubt who came out on top of that little incident. Baby, it ain't no secret that the NCR wanted to use the Courier, but at the end of the day they were the ones being used. As far as backfiring goes, that was easily the screw-up of the decade."_

-The King


	5. Part 5: Hoover Dam

**Part 5: Hoover Dam**

March, 2282. The Mojave wasteland stood on its toes as the inevitable dawned closer and closer. Just over two years ago, the unstoppable force met the immovable object. Now it was time for a second round, a second attempt to take Hoover Dam. But this time, things would be different: this time there would be no holding back. The battle would be more than just the clash between East and West, for there would be a spanner thrown into the works. For some this would be the beginning of a new era. For the rest, it would be the beginning of the end.

_"The Second Battle of Hoover Dam was probably cemented into the mind of every Legionary from the moment they were first pushed back over the Colorado. For us, it was the moment we realised we couldn't finish them off. You have to remember that the Legion took pride in the belief that they were the strongest, so to take retribution for what it must have seemed like the mother of all insults was a matter of principle. It was bound to happen. The only question was when."_

-Dennis Crocker

Former NCR Ambassador to New Vegas

For High Command that was a question they did not intend to find out. During his time as General of the Mojave region, Lee Oliver has earned himself the title of 'General Wait-And-See', a not so subtle jab at his seemingly indecisive nature. Many average troopers believed that if left to his own devices, Lee Oliver would have ensured NCR defeat, but in reality, he and his advisors were planning to go on the offensive.

_"There was a deadline of sorts, one that I suspect even High Command didn't quite know for sure. But the thought was that as soon as the Mojave region was 'pacified', or as close to that definition as you could get, we would take the fight to the Legion. For a time, the hope was for the Courier to do that for us and in a way he did. He managed to remove several of Caesar's potential allies in the region and did so peacefully, I might add. But by the time we considered ourselves ready, the situation had obviously changed. Despite this, Oliver and Moore still pushed for the offensive because they believed that for the moment, the Courier wouldn't dare to suddenly attack us and that as long as the factions of the Mojave were following him, they would not be fighting for the Legion."_

-Dennis Crocker

Up until this point, the NCR was almost entirely on the defensive; any attempts at an major offensive on the east side of the river would have required resources and manpower unlike any that have ever been gathered. Around this time, Legion activity, mostly due to the Courier's influence, had been completely restricted to these narrow regions; the previously captured outposts, namely Nelson and Cottonwood Cove, had all but been obliterated and were, nominally at least, back in NCR hands. However two major sites still remained on the east side of the river: despite the carnage the Courier and his followers inflicted during Caesar's assassination, Fortification Hill remained a Legion stronghold; the NCR had neither the capacity nor the intention of holding it against inevitable Legion counter attack. The second site, directly East of Hoover Dam itself, was the camp of Legate Lanius, now supreme commander of Legion forces in the Mojave. Some nicknamed this location 'Hell's Gate'.

_"There were various plans drawn up, many of them conflicting, of how we should approach this. Now it is very understandable that given the enormity of the situation that some of these plans would inevitably have been the result of blue sky thinking regardless of what we could actually achieve. But what worried me was that this seemed to be the case for nearly all of the plans given out. One particular draft had the idea of carpet bombing the Fort with vertibirds, thereby creating a diversion while we assault Hell's Gate. Now that would have been an excellent idea except even if we gathered up every single vertibird across the entire NCR in one place, we still wouldn't have had anywhere near the number required to make something like this convincing. And even then we didn't have enough fuel for sustained bombing because if we did, we would've called in the mechanised division instead. And that was one of the less insane plans I saw that particular day."_

-Ranger Grant

_"No matter how you looked at it, we were the more vulnerable side. Apart from Forlorn Hope, which was for the most part the front line, we had very few camps anywhere near the river. We had Ranger Camps, that much was true, but they were really observation posts than anything else. If the Legion wanted to, they could've easily crossed the river through Cottonwood Cove and counterattacked on the western side of the river. And this was something they did take advantage of in the end."_

-Corporal Lens

While Lee Oliver and his staff struggled to put together a comprehensible plan of attack, Lanius had already finalised his own. As one of Caesar's most feared generals, he knew the man's doctrine more than anyone but he also knew Caesar's weaknesses. Having thoroughly studied the attack patterns of the Malpais Legate during the First Battle of Hoover Dam, he quickly recognised that a conventional strike force using standard formations would be far too costly. After all, taking the dam would be pointless if they could not hold it. While some members of the Legion would have considered it dishonourable or cowardly, Lanius was not above using deception and diversions. He had long ago pointed out the dam's vulnerability to a flanking manoeuvre: while the path on top of the great wall is not unlike the narrow corridor of Thermopylae, where superior numbers meant nothing, such advantage could potentially be turned into a death trap for the defenders if the Legion could attack it from two directions simultaneously. Manipulation of where the NCR military is focused would be key.

_"The problem with Lee Oliver was that he reacted to problems with an almost reflexive manner. So if the Legion attacked a certain point of the frontline, it doesn't have to be the dam, he would immediately concentrate as much of his forces as possible on that particular point, regardless whether or not this would leave his flank exposed. Now his supporters would have said this was the best way of quickly stopping an invasion; by beating it back before it gains momentum. But this kind of thinking only works if the opposition is a concentrated but small force. That was not what we were facing."_

-General Hsu

In his final draft, Lanius proposed the attack of multiple key targets immediately west of the Colorado River, both to cause confusion to the enemy as well as pining down potential reinforcements. These targets were Camp Forlorn Hope, Camp Golf and the civilian town of Novac. Nearby Ranger Camps would also be targeted but only to keep them occupied. All of these targets were made to compensate for the detailed distractions outlined in Caesar's original plan, nearly all of which were now sabotaged by the Courier. There would be no artillery support from the Boomers to counteract those already present on the dam. There would be no terrorist bombing within the Strip to keep the Securitrons and NCR military police busy. But worst of all, there would be no additional support from factions such as the Great Khans. Lanius knew that if this strike does not succeed, it would end the Legion's campaign in the Mojave for good.

_"You know they always say if you come to Vegas, you better be prepared to gamble whether you wanted to or not. I think both the NCR and the Legion did some of that just by trying to take this place, either by force or diplomacy. But for good old Lanius, this battle was the biggest gamble of them all."_

-Swank

On the 12th of March, at approximately 3 am, Lanius placed his bet. The first positions west of the river to come under fire were Ranger Stations Alpha and Echo. Their assailants were elite assassins disguised as escaped slaves, having already been placed undercover almost a week earlier. Previous experiences at Ranger Station Charlie have shown that these small outposts were far from impenetrable, and the distance between each station meant that reinforcements would be unlikely. Though warnings from both stations were successfully transmitted during the ensuing battle to High Command, the next set of attacks gave them little time to react. Less than an hour after station Echo went silent, the recently reoccupied Nelson came under attack. With a horrific shortage of supplies and men, it seemed as if the already battered settlement would fall for a second time. Forlorn Hope too became pinned down by the 3rd, 6th, 10th, 11th and 18th Maniples, a total of 600 men under command of Gaius Magnus, a legendary Centurion of the Legion having been transferred from the recently conquered region of Dry Wells. They outnumbered NCR forces stationed at Forlorn Hope 3:1.

_"You see the genius of Lanius' plan, or rather Caesar's plan, was that regardless how Oliver would react, the Legion would still come out on top. On the one hand High Command could have diverted troops to reinforce the front lines, but virtually all the available outposts were pinned down. The only place he could've sent troops from would have been Hoover Dam, but that would clearly be falling into the diversion trap. But on the other hand, if Oliver refused to fall for this trick and kept the Dam secured, then should any part of this frontline fall, even if it was simply one of the Ranger Stations, then the Legion would immediately be able to flank our entire position. It really was a win-win scenario for them."_

-Ranger Grant

Even the troops stationed at McCarran had their hands tied. As part of the Legion strategy, various radio frequencies were pre-emptively hijacked in order to broadcast Legion propaganda at a moment's notice. Formally under the command of Vulpes Inculta, the Frumentarii, Caesar's elite infiltrators, made deliberate news broadcasts to every corner of the Mojave in a bid to lower enemy morale and trigger any form of anti-NCR uprising.

_"I personally had been requesting a transfer to Hoover Dam for a few weeks before hand. I have to say such a thought would not have even crossed my mind a year ago because of the problems we've had with the Fiends. Of course, the Courier put an end to all of that, so you can imagine my surprise when Dhatri, the Major, burst into my office and told me the Fiends were attacking the camp."_

-Colonel Hsu

With virtually no organised plan or cohesive leadership, the Fiend's insurgency was short lived. Of those who were not killed or captured, none would ever have the strength to ever again form a group of any credible threat. But it still cost the NCR vital time and manpower, which was all that Lanius wanted.

_"Lanius, I believe, studied the failings of his predecessor quite thoroughly. He was not above using deception and petty tricks, far from it. In fact if none of us knew any better, I would have assumed that the one leading the attack was someone else altogether; perhaps someone from the Frumentarii."_

-Dennis Crocker

Faced with an inevitable full assault on the Dam itself, Lee Oliver's advisors urged him to do exactly the opposite of what he had in mind: absolutely nothing. If the Dam could not withstand the oncoming assault, then whether or not forward camps such as Forlorn hope can repel the attacks would become irrelevant. For now, they would be on their own.

_"It was a hard decision, make no mistake. Echo, we suspected, would be completely destroyed within an hour. We assumed that Cottonwood Cove was already retaken due to the sheer size of the attacking force coming at Nelson and Forlorn Hope; there was no way they could've gotten ashore anywhere else. And we knew that sending reinforcements from McCarran would take far longer time than they actually had plus even at this late stage we still had to be weary of the locals. But at the end of the day, one had to look at the larger picture, and in a way we were placing a bet at a very high stakes game: we knew that Lanius could not possibly have enough men to reasonably expect to take all of these positions simultaneously. Moore was certain that the main attack would still be focused on Hoover Dam and that all of these skirmishes elsewhere were simply distractions. So it really became a test of attrition: which would last longer, our troops defending these key outposts, or Lanius' patience."_

-Ranger Grant

_"You often get people asking where you were on the day so and so happened. Well I can safely say that most of us were sleeping, or rather trying to sleep when the first shots were fired. I was personally doing a night shift patrol when all hell broke loose; nobody knew what was going on. Those of us on patrol were issued radios, which were still considered a valuable piece of equipment at the time, but in a real emergency like that they were next to useless. Everyone was panicking, you didn't know where the hostiles were in relation to you, who was issuing the orders or even what the orders were. It was absolute chaos and eventually I just turned the damn thing off. It was more of a distraction than a tool at that stage."_

-Former Private Dozer

_"Around 20 minutes into the attack, some of the turbines stopped. Now I was stationed there for a couple months by that time and the noise those generators made were pretty damn loud but most of us got used to it. We only noticed it when it stopped. And sure enough a couple of minutes later, my squad got called in and we were sent to see what just happened. Now those turbines were pretty deep into the facility; only the grease monkeys ever went down there and those guys were all pissing themselves in the rec room by that point. And sure enough, within seconds of us entering that room, the Legionaries poured out of the damn thing. They were literally crawling through goddamn pipes just to get inside. At that point I remember thinking: these guys are like radroaches, you can do whatever you want and they will find a way in every bloody time."_

-Former Lt Logan

A mere hour into the assault and the Legion has gained a foothold on both the East end of the Dam and the lower levels of its interior. Nobody knew how the turbines were compromised but the possibility of Legion infiltration possibly even months ahead of the attack was not out of the question. Though Lanius's original plan of attacking the dam from both the East and the West had stalled, his overall goal of squeezing NCR forces into a pincer simply changed into a slightly different dimension. With the lower levels cut off, Lee Oliver faced growing inevitability that he would have to make a tactical retreat.

_"We had the high ground, thank God for that, so I and every other sniper had a pretty decent view of the entire battlefield. And boy it was a mess. Now you could usually tell how well the battle is going by looking at how much corpses wearing crimson there are relative to the number corpses in tanned khaki. But let me tell you, everything was crimson that day. I didn't know if it was the blood or the endless flow of Legion soldiers but those guys were coming quicker than we could put them down."_

-Sterling

Former 1st NCR Recon Sniper

_"I would say most of the killing probably came from the small substations because they only had a single connection to the rest of the dam, which was a small bridge. That was the exit as well so when that extent of the dam got overrun, it was game over for any poor bastards who got trapped there. I remember seeing some of the guys who literally had to fight hand to hand against men armed with machetes and thermic lances and they got absolutely shredded. And you know… when you see a man getting his limbs cut off one by one and left to bleed out, you have to ask yourself: is anything worth all of this?"_

-Major Sanders

_"A lot of troopers, when they see the black armour, think that the battle is won. They think whoever is behind that mask must be the hand of God or something. But the reality is: Veteran Rangers are people… we're not unstoppable and we're certainly not indestructible. If you cut us, we would bleed. And if you push us past our limit, we would break. It really is as simple as that. And when that happens, the only thing that black armour is good for is to act as a tight fitting casket. I saw good men and women getting thrown into hell that day and it occurred to me that not all of them charged ahead so recklessly because they were fearless. Rather some, I'm certain, were waiting for the sweet embrace of death."_

-Carl Dixon

Former Veteran Ranger

_"The explosions from topside were just pretty much constant by this stage, I remember wondering if I'll ever be able to hear anything else again. But right at that moment, there was a very brief pause of less than a minute. I was taking cover in the visitor's centre at the time and I noticed that everyone was peering out of the windows. I tried to get up and see what was happening but by the time I got to my feet, the firing resumed. But on top of that was this distinct noise of a stampede. And suddenly everyone was cheering; they were absolutely exuberant. Obviously I didn't know what the hell was going on, so I asked the nearest trooper I could see. He just replied: 'The Calvary is here'."_

-Private Lucy Connor

Rushing over the hills from Boulder City was a militia of less than 200 men and women. They came from all backgrounds, representing very different groups and ideologies with only one thing in common: they wore the '21 of Spades'. And here, on this blood soaked monument of the old world, they brought forth a message for the entire Mojave.

The Reckoning has begun…


End file.
